Intermediate Word 2013

Transcription

1 Intermediate Word 2013

2 Class Objective: Elmhurst Public Library is committed to offering enriching programs to help our patrons Explore, Learn, and Grow. Today, technology skills are more than a valuable skill they are a necessity in the workforce and daily life. By the end of this Intermediate Word class you will be better able to create professional Word Documents and have a deeper understanding of Words more complex features. Thanks so much for attending and be on the lookout for further Microsoft Office classes and more! Introduction At this point you should have a good understanding of what a word document is, how the page functions, the general layout of the ribbon, and many of its features. In this second level class, most of what we will be talking about is how to increasingly make and control formatting decisions to create professional and nicer looking word documents. When putting together a simple document it is likely unnecessary to stray from the home tab but today s course will cover many of the functions in the Insert and Page Layout tabs. 1

3 What We ll Cover: Indents (ruler) Line spacing Margins Page breaks Inserting page numbers Formatting pictures/text wrap Columns Insert shapes Text boxes Fill and outline options Clear formatting Page orientation 2

4 Introduction We ll first cover Indenting. An indent is empty space next to text. Indents are used in letters, resumes, and or generally when space needs to be created in a Word document. Unlike tabbing or hitting the space bar, indenting is not adding blank spaces but rather telling word to start or end the type at a certain point. To indent a section we ll need to bring up the ruler. First click the view tab and then check the box next to ruler. 3

5 To create an indent first select the text you would like to manipulate by highlighting it. Next move the mouse up to the ruler underneath the tool ribbon. On the ribbon you will see three arrows (two upward facing and one downward) these arrows control the indents. Drag the two upward arrows to control the text s left and right indent. The top arrow controls the top indent of a section: this arrow changes how the first line is formatted but not the following lines. The bottom arrows control the indent for the rest of the section. Line Spacing How to control line spacing is one of the biggest questions Microsoft word users have. Line spacing affects not only the space between the lines, but also the space before and after them. Like indentation you can give the whole document the same line spacing or select a section and space it differently. To adjust line spacing again, select the text of a document and hit the line spacing symbol in the home tab. Options go from single spaced to triple spaced. **You can also manually enter line breaks by hitting the return/enter key but this may cause some formatting issues as you keep working on your document so using the line spacing options are recommended. 4

6 Sometimes you will notice, even after changing the line spacing of text to single spaced, the text still has notable spaces between lines. You also may want to add space before or after a line. Click Line Spacing Options to adjust the spacing before and after the text. To do so enter numerical values in the Before and After blanks. To single space text both before and after should be set to 0 pts. 5

7 Margins Margins are the blank borders around the entire page. Margins are used to decrease clutter and because some printers cannot print to the edges on a piece of paper. To edit the margins, go to the page layout tab and select margins. A list of margin templates appear different from the traditional 1 margins. At the bottom of the drop down list the option to create custom margins is available as well. For most documents the 1 margin is preferable but in certain cases other margins may be needed. When considering which margins to pick consider how the text will look when printed (too much white space? too little?) and check to see if a certain type of document has any expected format (example: most academic papers require 1 margins). 6

8 Page Numbers To insert page numbers go to the insert tab and hit page numbers, next select where on the page inserted page numbers should appear (top of page, bottom of page, etc) While inserting basic page numbers can be fairly easy, more advanced page numbers options can get complex fast. In Format Page Numbers, the number format, the starting number, and whether page number formatting is carried over from previous sections can be edited. Further formatting options can be selected by double clicking on a header or footer including the different first page which is helpful when doing a title or cover page. 7

9 Page Breaks Page breaks move the type cursor to a new part of the word document without inserting empty spaces. Moving text on one page will no longer move the text on following pages. This is helpful for formatting different chapters, pages in a cook book, and cover pages. Inserting a page break also creates a new section (noted in a section s header) which allows these sections to be formatted differently, often used when formatting page numbers. To insert a page break go to the insert tab and select Page Break or use the command Ctrl + Enter 8

10 Formatting Pictures/Text Wrap In the beginner class we talked briefly about inserting pictures. Once a picture is inserted though, the default formatting is to put the picture in line with text. This can cause some formatting issues. To bring up more text wrap and alignment options double click on the picture itself and click the Wrap Text button on the ribbon. Wrapping adjusts how the text is formatted around the picture. The choices most useful (that let the picture move more freely are): In front of/ behind textthis allows the photo to move over or under text on the page. Tight/Narrow- wraps the text around the image, tight or narrow selection indicate how close the type is to the picture itself. 9

11 Columns To have paragraphs of text horizontally next to each other, you will need to insert columns or text boxes (more on this later). Inserting columns automatically creates indents for text equally spaced on the page. To create columns go to the page layout tab and select the columns button and the amount of columns (up to three). Formatting the text in columns is not as easy as it may seem though. In order to reach the second or third column you will need to enter blank spaces (with the enter key) until the blinking type cursor moves into the following columns. This means that editing the text in the first column will affect the spacing of the following columns, if spaces are added or deleted. To adjust the width of a column, adjust the indents in the ruler above. 10

12 insert Shapes While Microsoft office has specific software for designing print materials (Microsoft Publisher), Microsoft Word has many of the same features and is a great program for beginners or putting something together quickly. Inserting shapes is a simple way to add interest in brochures and handouts. To insert a shape click the insert tab and click on the Shapes button, a drop down menu will appear with a variety of shapes, lines, arrows, and more. After you have selected the shape you d like, left click and hold somewhere on the document. Now start drawing the shape by dragging away from the initial point you clicked. To keep a shape symmetrical hold the SHIFT key and its proportions will be kept as it grows. After a shape has been created, it can be moved around by selecting the shape with a left click and holding, and then dragging the shape around the page. 11

13 To change the shape or line s color double click on the shape itself and a new menu will appear in the ribbon above. Two options in the center will have a paint bucket and a pencil around a line. In these menus you are able to change the internal color of the shape (fill/paint bucket) and the outline color and width (outline/ pencil and box). You can also makes these color invisible by clicking no fill or no outline **Inserted shapes will default to layering above text. To put shapes behind text or make text wrap use the same text wrap functions, as if the shape were a picture. 12

14 Text Boxes Inserting text boxes is also extremely similar to inserting shapes. Text boxes are free floating rectangles in which text can be added, this allows for text to more freely moved around the page. Note you can also overlap text using text boxes. Inserting a text box is almost exactly as inserting a rectangular shape. By clicking insert text box, you ll then draw onto the page your text box. (This box can be resized later). After you are done creating the box, start typing to insert text inside. Double clicking in a text box will move the cursor inside it. Text boxes also have fill and an outline. Just like adjusting the fill and outline for a shape, double click on the box to bring up the proper menu and change or remove the color from the fill and outline buttons. Most text boxes will have no fill and outline though. Text inside the text box is just like the text of a typical word document, and the size, color, and alignment can all be changed. You may need to expand the text box in order to prevent words from being cut off. 13

15 Page Orientation Finally to switch the page orientation from portrait (default) to landscape click the Orientation button in the Page Layout tab. Potential reasons for switching from portrait to landscape might include: printing a picture, flier, or sign. Conclusion We hope that you have enjoyed today s class and continue to think of Elmhurst Public Library as gateway to technology, learning, and fun. To sign up for any of our other classes visit: elmlib.org/techclass 14

16 125 S. Prospect Ave. Elmhurst, IL (630) /14